Bulldogs, Rebels once again region rivals

NEWBERRY COUNTY, S.C. — The South Carolina High School League just announced their 2026-28 region alignments. Newberry High School was moved from 3A to 2A and now they will rejoin their inner-county rivals, Mid-Carolina, in the same region for the next three seasons.

The Bulldogs and the Rebels will both be apart of region 3 that features Andrew Jackson, Chester, Columbia, Keenan and York Perparatory. Mid-Carolina won a share of the football region title this year and Newberry outright won their region for the second consecutive season.

This means that the annual rivalry game will be probably pushed back later in the season and the two schools could possibly play each other on one of the school’s homecoming night or senior year. Even better, the schools could set up a Clemson-South Carolina type setup where they play each other on the final week of the regular season.

Imagine a scenario both teams being number one and two in the region and playing each other on the last week of the season for a chance at the region title. It is certainly wishful thinking but hopefully the head coaches and athletic directors of both schools would take this into consideration to give the Newberry County sports fans something to look forward to next season.

In addition, Whitmire will move to region 2 for class A. Their region will feature Batesburg-Leesville, Eau Claire, Ridge Spring-Monetta, Clear Dot Charter and C.A. Johnson.